Kentucky basketball schedule irks Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings

Fans have to wait another three-plus weeks before John Calipari brings his Kentucky Wildcats to Nashville for the first meeting between the SEC’s current co-leaders, a Feb. 11 tilt at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym that will feature a visit from ESPN GameDay.

Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings didn’t need to wait until then to address what could be construed as a little preferential treatment toward the ‘Cats.

Stallings, whose team is preparing for a short Thursday-Saturday turnaround this week with games at Alabama and vs. Mississippi State, said today that it’s “not right” for Kentucky to receive a league schedule that lacks a Thursday-Saturday combo for the second consecutive season.

And it’s not just that. The Wildcats benefit from Saturday games with four tired SEC opponents that are coming off Thursday night games – the most of any team in the league.

“Go figure that one out for me, would you?” Stallings said. “We all agreed to do it, so if you have one like we have one, I’m not going to complain with the one that we have. To not have any and to be able to play four teams that have to do it to play you … that’s not right.”

Kentucky does have one Thursday game on March 1 vs. Georgia, but it’s followed by a Sunday game at Florida on CBS.

The only other SEC teams not dealing with a quick turnaround this season are Auburn and LSU. Ole Miss got a raw deal: it was dealt the Thursday-Saturday combo a league-most three times.

The last time the Wildcats had one day of rest between SEC regular-season games, they lost as the No. 2-ranked team at Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

“I’d rather have it on Wednesday and Saturday so we had the same amount of time to prepare for Mississippi State as they have for us,” Stallings said. “But we agreed to take that on. So that’s just part of the deal. It’s part of the TV package and we can live with that.

“But again, I don’t think it’s right for somebody not to have any and to play four different times when their opponents have to play them on short order. That’s not fair and it’s not equitable, and something needs to be done about that.

“But we got the short end of the straw this week and that’s the way it goes. We’ve had them before and we’ve got a tough game on Thursday night and we have to be able to bounce back 48 hours later and play another very difficult game. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”

About The Author

Jeff Lockridge

I have been on the Vanderbilt beat since 2009, at The Tennessean since 2000 and a sports journalist since 1997. Prior to Vanderbilt, I covered primarily high schools from 2000-09. My reporting history also includes stints covering the Titans, Auburn and minor league baseball. I'm a Nashville native and a graduate of Overton High (1993) and Austin Peay (1997). I live in Fr